Monday, 17 August 2026

Art, and Mixed Fruit Jelly

 

Tea, toast and marmalade - Artist Lucy Almey Bird

It's that time of year again for me, time to dig out all the fruit peelings, cores and random bits from the freezer where they have been added to for months, and make up a batch of Compost Heap Jelly ... only this year I have renamed it Mixed Fruit Jelly as there was so much good fruit in there too that would never have ended up on the compost heap.


I assembled all the bits well over a week ago and chopped some extras up.


They simmered away nicely on the hob ...


... then I discovered a tub of extra blueberries in the freezer so these were added and I kept it all puttering away for quite a bit longer.

After a night of dripping away through a jelly bag and into a large bowl, the resulting liquid was stored in the fridge ... for well over a week, it was just too hot to be stood at the hob boiling up any sort of jam or jelly.


With the weather having cooled considerably now I got it out this morning and boiled up the beautifully coloured jelly.


Three and a half jars of beautiful tasty Mixed Fruit Jelly.  Alan is very happy with his two jars, he loves this stuff, no matter what the colour and what the flavour.  I think it just reminds him of our smallholding days when we had jars and jars of jewel coloured preserves lined up in the cupboard.


Sue xx



22 comments:

  1. Looks delicious and bet it tastes good too. Catriona

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    1. This one is delicious, best one in a while. 😀

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  2. Normally at this time of year I would look for elderberries, rose-hips and blackberries to simmer with cooking apple peel, lemon peel, and mixed spice for delicious “cold remedy,” spiced hedgerow jelly.

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  3. Looks delicious! I'm waiting until it gets a bit cooler to make some of my own jams and marmalades. It's currently 96F and a bit too hot to be making jam. :)

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    1. Oh gosh yes, wait. That's what I did and it was much more manageable standing over the pan once the temperatures were down to the low 20s.

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  4. That looks very good Sue. I am now tempted to give this a try. I wonder if I could manage to get such a lovely colour as you.

    God bless.

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    1. Just drop in a few blueberries or blackberries for that colour, it doesn't take many. If you want a pink version use some rhubarb. ❤️

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  5. The blueberries have definitely added a touch of bling to your jewel-jelly

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    1. They've made it a lovely colour haven't they. 💜

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  6. I've been jam making too. Jumbleberry Jam yesterday, and Bramble Jelly over the weekend. I give them as gifts/Christmas hamper.

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  7. The jelly looks great, I’m going to pick some blackberries and make just one jar for the village show.
    Alison in Devon x

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    1. Good luck with the show. All the shows I entered into a few years ago keep popping up in my Facebook Memories at the moment, it's that time of year. :-)

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  8. A nice idea for using up fruit scraps!

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  9. I love this idea! Another blogger wrote about how to make peach jelly with peels - not even the fruit or juice. I have about 5 figs and some frozen blueberries and was thinking of experimenting with more jam myself.

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    1. Sometimes it's nice to have a little experimenting session in the kitchen isn't it. Even one jar of homemade jam or jelly is worth making. xx

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  10. I absolutely love the idea of compost jelly. I bought Pam's book on the strength of it

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    1. Pam has some brilliant ideas doesn't she. She was a font of all preserving knowledge when I met her at River Cottage HQ.

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